Parachute sabotage trial jury visits airfield

Jurors in the trial of a man accused of attempting to murder his wife by sabotaging her parachute have visited the airfield they used.Victoria Cilliers, 40, suffered multiple injuries in a 4,000ft fall at Netheravon Airfield, Wiltshire, on 5 April, 2015.Emile Cilliers, 37, denies attempting to murder her.Jurors were taken from Winchester Crown Court and shown the kit store and mats where parachutes are packed.

The nine men and three women were told by Det Con Maddie Hennah of Wiltshire Police they would see locations “thought to feature significantly in this investigation”.She told them they would pause at 20 locations identified on a plan and maps.That included toilets where the prosecution alleges Mr Cilliers took the parachute to tamper with it, before storing it in a locker overnight.The jurors were then shown a packed Safire 149 parachute, similar to the one used by Mrs Cilliers, and were given a chance to pick it up to feel its weight. Mr Cilliers, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps in Aldershot, denies two charges of attempted murder and one count of damaging a gas valve at the couple’s home in Amesbury, Wiltshire.The trial continues.
Source: BBC Hamp